Wednesday, October 14th : Nine days until Nishizumi Miho's birthday


Her first try had been right before she went to school. Without success. Either her target was still asleep or at some kind of morning practice.

'Don't worry, Saori... there's still time left.'

That person could not be busy all day. Actually, they could. However, should she be unable to contact them until saturday, she would just send a SMS instead.

.

.

.

When their lunchbreak started, Saori excused herself. "I have to make a call. Don't mind going without me, I'll be there soon."

The others nodded and went off, though not without looking back at least once except for Mako who ignored Saori's behaviour as usual.

When she found a quiet corner and made sure no one was within hearing distance, she dialed the number once again and waited anxiously for someone to pick up.

. . .

Far away on another schoolship, a pair of two girls was sitting at one of the benches in their cafeteria and ate in silence. That was until the brunette's phone began ringing. Her companion watched as the young woman pulled the device out quick yet careful before looking at the screen.

"It is the same number as yesterday and this morning."

"So whoever it is, they are persistent."

While the older girl accepted the call, the younger one went back to eating.

"Hello. This is Nishizumi Maho speaking."

"Thank goodness! Finally!"

The shout had Erika looking up again. Maho on her part was holding the phone a bit away from her ear.

"Ah, sorry. This is Takebe Saori, I'm calling about Mip... Miho-sans birthday."

The older girl's brows furrowed when she thought about it. Yes, her sister's birthday was soon. However...

"How did you get this number, Takebe-san?"

The answer stunned her: "Stole it from her phone."

To just admit something like that...

"Listen, I need your help with her present, that's why I called."

By now, Erika had started leaning closer to listen in on the conversation. Maho paid her no mind while she pondered the situation for a few seconds. It did not take long for her to decide on what to do.

"How may I help you?"

. . .

"Are you not at least a bit worried about Saori-san, Mako-san?"

Back at Oarai, the Anglerfish Team was watching as its most silent member answered the gentle florist's question.

"I'm not."

"But..."

Yukari's confused stammering was interrupted at once: "While she has never been like that before, it was to be expected."

Now the others just stared at the raven-haired girl that was calmly eating her lunch.

"Excuse me?", Hana found her voice again.

"You challenged Saori in what she considers herself the best. She will be back to normal after the twenty-third."

"You mean she was serious about this "best present ever"-stuff?", Yukari asked as to which Mako looked at her quizzically. "You saw how she reacted when you didn't believe her."

They looked at each other in silence for a while. Until Miho interjected, that was.

"Um... So you know what Saori-san might do?"

The slightest hint of a smile crept on Mako's face when she shook her head. "No. While Saori does not always bring the very best present, hers are never bad and mostly unique. And since you challenged her... let's see..."

She pondered something for a few seconds before looking back up at them. "Right now, I wouldn't put it past her to somehow buy Kuromorimine's Maus and have it roll in in the midst of the party."

"Honestly?!", Yukari exclaimed while the other two just sat their in silence, looking at each other and then back at Mako.

"So in other words", Hana started the sentence. However, the other black-haired girl finished it: "You created a monster."

"Who's a monster?"

The others jumped while Saori took her usual place with an overly happy expression. However, Mako answered her question bluntly: "You."

"Oi, that hurts, you know?"

The stoic girl just nodded and continued her meal.

"Nah, whatever. Maybe you're right."

The cheerful response had Miho and Hana exchange another glance while Yukari apparently still thought about the Maus. Saori just took out her own lunch and dug in.


Friday, October 16th : Seven days until Nishizumi Miho's birthday


In order to get the final preparations done, she had called in sick on Thursday. And squeeled at the cheesy get-better-messages she had gotten from everyone.

However, the only message that really interested her that day came in the evening, consisting of a single row of Kanjis:

"Preparations complete. Permission was granted."

That had Saori grinning even when she knew she had to ask the student council for another favour.

.

.

.

This was why she took off right at the beginning of lunchbreak once again with Miho and Hana looking after her.

When she was out of sight, the brunette turned towards her gentle friend with a shiver. "I'm not sure about all of this... but Saori-san is scaring me a bit."

The taller girl nodded, deep in thought. "I agree, Miho-san. But according to Mako-san, it should be over in another week."

"I hope so..."

. . .

It had been four days and now she was here again. And once again, the president was nibbling on a dried sweet potato, flanked by her two friends and lapdogs.

"I'm really sorry to bother you again, president."

With that, she placed a basket on the smaller girl's desk. It contained another load of the beloved snack and was regarded with a mischievous smile. After that, Anzu's gaze set on Saori who was smiling just as bright.

"So you want me to do something for you again? Even when I couldn't help you last time?"

She waved it off. "It's alright. This time, I need you to change Zuikaku's course."

The revelation had Yuzu and Momo stunned momentarily.

"The course of the ship...", the well-endowed vice-president started.

"Changed?", the bespectacled girl ended.

While they were still stuttering about it, Anzu looked at Saori with interest. "And why are you asking me about that? I'm not in command of the ship."

The brunette reacted by scratching the back of her head in embarassment. "Well, I talked to the captain but she said I need your permission, too."

"Hm..."

The small redhead pondered the information for a few seconds while still eyeing the basket.

"Before I decide on that, I would like to know where you want the ship to go to."

A content smile emerged from Saori when she pulled a map out of her bag and displayed it on the free part of the president's desk. As the other girls soon realised, it was a nautical chart with a red and a black line drawn on it.

"I had the captain verify it for me. The black line is our current course, the red one is the change I am asking for."

Both lines were not far away from each other. In fact, they were mostly identical and separated just once.

"From what the sailors told me, this will cost us two days at most."

Anzu was still tracing the lines. A while later, she looked up again, showing a cheerful expression. "I don't mind, then. Would you mind if I kept this?"

"No! Not at all!"

Saori had jumped out of her seat and bowed deeply before rushing out of the door. Just as she had done on monday.

. . .

Once the brunette was gone, Anzu started to remove the wrapping of her gift. Her friends observed her closely.

"Why are you doing so much for her?", Momo finally asked. Anzu merely grinned.

"I wasn't sure about it in the beginning, but now I am: Takebe is planning something big. Really big. And it is for Nishizumi-chan. I deem all of this worth it when she cries out of joy. She deserves it for saving our school, don't you agree?"

Both of them nodded understandingly while the little president finally undid the wrapping and folded it away with a few crunching noises. Then, she pulled something out of the basket and held it up before pocketing it.

"And up until now, she has done a really good job."

What she showed the other girls had been the master key she handed out to the second-year at the beginning of the week.


Sunday, October 18th : Five days until Nishizumi Miho's birthday


Now was about the time that Saori got nervous. Sometimes, something tended to go wrong at the last minute. And this time, she absolutely could not have this.

However, after she had triple-checked almost everything, she realised that she had to do something to keep her mind off the upcoming event. So when the vice-president was going around and asked if someone wanted to help decorating the room they would celebrate the commander's birthday in, Saori was the first to volunteer. That action had the first-years doing the same without hesitation. In the end, almost the whole tankery-team wanted to help, even Miho herself. However, she was banned from going there before everything was ready.


Thursday, October 22th : One day until Nishizumi Miho's birthday


"It's really nice of you to keep me company, Saori-san."

The two girls had been taking a walk in the evening. Saori just grinned at the other brunette. "Don't worry about it, Miporin. There are so many people working they don't need me at all."

For the past days, every spare minute had been used to prepare the room. Though the design had been discarded and completely redone twice, but Miho did not know about that detail.

"The air is nice at this time of the year, don't you think?"

They had reached the side of the ship and were looking out onto the sea. Saori noticed that her friend had her eyes closed and just took in the cool breeze that had her hair flowing.

So she just did the same and nodded slowly. "Yes, it is."

After a few moments of silence, Miho talked to her again: "I'm really sorry about not believing you two weeks ago. I... just never thought something like finding good presents would be so important to you."

When Saori looked at her friend, she saw the saddened expression of the younger girl. That was why she patted her head contently before speaking: "As I said, don't worry about it. I'm not mad at you or Yukari or Hana. But you got something wrong."

When she gave Saori a confused look, the latter just grinned and showed her a thumbs up. "I don't find good presents. I do find the very best presents. Just wait for tomorrow, Miporin."

That had her commander sigh in relief and lean on the railing. "I just hope you didn't somehow got the Maus like Mako-san said you might."

A quiet giggle escaped Saori's lips when she thought about it. "That's a good one. I have to keep that in mind... maybe for Yukari's wedding?"

When the other girl looked at her in surprise, she merely grimaced and added: "Well... her wedding would more likely be with the Maus, then..."

Both of them laughed freely at the joke while still watching the sea. Once it was quiet again, Miho asked her friend another question: "Would you mind telling me what exactly you did the past two weeks once my birthday is over?"

To that, the older girl gave her a playful shove. "Now what do we have here? Does naughty little Miporin want to steal my strategies?"

"What? No! Of course not! I'm just interested in what you did..."

She laughed at the embarassed expression the other girl showed before resting a hand on her shoulder. That got her attention.

"Listen, I can't tell you much. But if you promise not to look, I can tell you about one thing."

She thought about it for a while, then nodded. "Go ahead. I promise not to look."

"So, do you remember when I said I wanted to go this way? That's part of my plan, too. I needed to keep you occupied so you won't go to the other side of the ship."

"Really? What could be over there?"

At the question, Saori grinned and patted Miho's shoulder. "I have your present delivered per ship by tomorrow evening. So of course I can't just let you wander around by yourself and see it by chance."

Now the younger girl looked at her questioningly. "You really thought about it that much?"

"Of course I did!"